Wheaton’s struggles leave team looking for options at WR
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Todd Haley’s response to a question Thursday hinted at the problem that the Steelers remain in search of a viable No. 2 receiver opposite Antonio Brown. Markus Wheaton, who started 19 games the past two seasons, was set to return to the lineup after a shoulder injury forced him to miss the first two games of the season.
When asked about incorporating Wheaton back into the offense, Haley said Wheaton would have to earn his way back into the rotation. It wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement for Wheaton, who after a nightmarish performance against the Eagles will have an even harder time regaining the trust of his coaches and teammates.
Wheaton dropped a touchdown pass on the first drive of the game and then proceeded to drop the next two passes that were thrown his way. It didn’t take Haley very long before he benched the four-year veteran in favor of second-year receivers Eli Rogers and Sammie Coates and veteran Darrius Heyward-Bey.
“It’s frustrating coming back to the team in this fashion, losing in that fashion and having the performance I had … it’s frustrating,” Wheaton said.
On a third down on the opening drive, Ben Roethlisberger scrambled and bought time in the pocket. Wheaton found open space in the back of the end zone, but the pass fell right through his hands.
“I dropped it,” Wheaton said. “That’s all there is to it.”
After the second drop, Haley played all sorts of different combinations with his receiver formations and none involved Wheaton. Even though the Steelers fell behind by three scores he was using Jesse James as a fourth receiver. He was using Heyward Bey. He even used running back Darryl Richardson when he shifted out of the backfield.
Wheaton said he understood why Haley benched him.
“The way the game started I understand why he did what he did,” Wheaton said. “I can’t blame him at all.”
The only reason Wheaton re-entered the game was that Rogers exited with a toe injury.
Think the Steelers might be missing Martavis Bryant a tad?
They won their first two games against the Redskins and Bengals, but it sure seemed like they played the Eagles without the benefit of a true threat opposite the All-Pro Brown.
Here’s how much: Brown led the Steelers with 12 receptions for 140 yards on a whopping 18 targets. Running back DeAngelo Williams was next with seven targets and four receptions. Coates had 50 receiving yards, but was barely visible after catching a 41-yard pass in the first quarter. Wheaton finished with one meaningless fourth-quarter catch for 2 yards.
“We had no running game,” Heyward-Bey said. “When there’s no running game and they have people in the box. … Of course we believe in our receivers and we believe in Ben, but football is a game of having everything going at once. If something’s not going right, you need something else to be extraordinary, and we didn’t have that today.”
Bryant, who is suspended for the season, isn’t coming back to save the offense, but it is worth noting what he meant to it. He was worth more than a touchdown per game to the Steelers over his first two NFL seasons. The Steelers scored, on average, 6.4 points per game more when Bryant has been in the lineup, posting a prolific 28.6 points per game with him and only 22.2 without him.
After three games this season, the Steelers are right at their 22 points per game average without him following their meager three-point output against the Eagles.
The Steelers have scored 30 points or more 15 times over the past 35 games. Bryant played in 11 of those games.
The good news for the Steelers is they’ll welcome Le’Veon Bell back to the offense today when he returns from a three-game suspension. The bad news is he might be their second-best receiver.
Bell caught 83 passes for 854 yards in 2014 in addition to his 1,361 rushing yards in his 2014 All-Pro campaign. And you’re not the only one who is aware of that fact this morning. One important member of the offense knew it immediately after the game.
“It’s going to be huge,” Maurkice Pouncey said, when asked about what Bell’s return will mean. “He changes the passing game.” ran his record to 3-0. Roethlisberger was sacked four times, threw an interception, overthrew and underthrew some receivers and had a 62.4 passer rating. Wentz rated at 125.9 as he threw for 301 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions for the third consecutive game and was not sacked. The Steelers now have managed only one sack in three games and their secondary still is searching for its first interception.
The Steelers ground game, supposedly much better, produced just 29 yards, 7 by Roethlisberger on a scramble. The Eagles ground game, which is not supposed to be very good, rang up 125 yards, led by rookie Wendell Smallwood of West Virginia University with 79 yards and a touchdown. The Steelers missed tackles, allowed screen plays to eat them up and had no answer at all on defense.
“We stunk,’’ Roethlisberger said. “We all stunk.”
It began with Markus Wheaton’s first of three dropped passes, one that bounced off his chest in the end zone on the game’s first drive. That was followed by